Cult of Hockey: Who is Jere Sallinen and why did Edmonton Oilers just sign him?

On Sunday afternoon Edmonton Oilers announced that their goal-starved club has added a little more Finnish:

Which prompts this admittedly knee-jerk response: if Jere Sallinen is the answer, what was the question?

I freely admit this player had never crossed my personal radar before today, when Allan “Lowetide” Mitchell brought up the Finn’s name in his brilliant Oilers-based blog this morning. Mitchell cited the resource cap-friendly.com, which provided details of the contract:

The Oilers themselves provided a little background on this player in a follow-up tweet:

Drafted 7 years ago, no previous North American experience, undersized and with fairly weak scoring numbers — what’s not to like?

Way back in his draft year, when Minnesota picked the winger in the 6th round, 163rd overall, Hockey’s Future had this talent analysison the player:

Opinions vary widely on Sallinen. Some scouts view him as a Bobby Holik-type power forward while others feel he is merely a big bodied, undisciplined player who put up big scoring numbers playing against smaller junior players but does not have the requisite skill level to be successful at the NHL level. On the plus side, his energy and enthusiasm, as well as a willingness to compete all over the ice, are popular with both teammates and fans alike. While not as awe inspiring as some of the other prospects in Finland, Sallinen is a strong skater and also handles the puck well in traffic.

I’m having issues getting my head around “Bobby Holik-type power forward” and “6’0, 183” in the same package, although Peter Chiarelli has always spoken about liking guys who are “heavy on their stick” as well as being just plain “heavy”. Unless those size numbers are out of date, Sallinen and his “punishing style of play” is a better fit under the first of those heaviness measures. He may not be the next Esa Tikkanen, but his team-leading 79 penalty minutes in 50 games this past season do suggest this guy is no shrinking violet.

For its part, the excellent resource eliteprospects.com has a somewhat more recent, albeit brief, scouting report on this player from 2013:

Sallinen is a speedy winger with good hands. Handles the puck well through traffic. Plays with a lof of energy and has a high “compete” level.

Sallinen’s player page at that same site shows a player with modest though non-trivial scoring prowess. Over the past two seasons with Jokerit in the KHL, he has tallied 34 points in 98 games, roughly the equivalent of a 20-25 point scorer over an 82-game NHL slate.

He was a member of Finland’s silver-medal-winning team at the 2014 Worlds, where he was held pointless over 9 games. By way of comparison, current Oiler Iiro Pakarinen was a teammate who notched 3 goals in that tourney and was signed as a free agentsoon afterwards. Today Pakarinen, who was himself an unsigned low-round pick of another NHL club, holds a tenuous grip on a fourth-line role with the Oilers. Both players had/have the advantage of being fairly close to their peak age by the time they came over, which in Pakarinen’s case led to 17 NHL games in his first North American season before assuming a fairly regular role in his second.

On the other hand, it may be worth noting that Sallinen’s 19 points were good for just 10th on his team in scoring this season, behind the 25 points of Jesse Joensuu, another recent Finnish-experiment-gone-wrong for the Oilers.

Contract terms for Sallinen seem like a low bet: just the one year term, two-way deal that pays six figures in the NHL, five in the AHL. From this distance, looks like a depth signing.

My understanding is since the contract is for next season, Sallinen will not affect the current 50-man list, which stands at 49 signed players and one open spot for a possible college or junior signing in the coming weeks.

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